Q. What are your thoughts on roleplaying in games? (Answer!)
A. Roleplaying games are probably one of my favorite varieties (this is excluding those turn based piles of bile,) I grew up on them and will continue to enjoy them in the forms of MMO's as well as when mixed with other good genres (like RTS and FPS games)
A. I usually find myself searching for zombie mods for any games I buy nowadays that are moddable. The best thus far has been Killing Floors, though zombie master has its moments.
I enjoy total conversions over minor modifications. I could care less whether there's "hi res" textures in my game, I want real quality improvement.
Q. Where did you get your gaming names from? (Answer!)
A. Once upon a time, during middle/grade school I played a lot of Dungeons and Dragons. In one of my DnD books there was a demo disk for a character creator program. As expected, in that program there was a name generator. Rannos, Sakon and a few other handles I commonly use popped out from that generator.
Years later I would forget the source to these names only to come upon that disk again and find my 'unique' names appearing through the generator. It was quite the embarrassing moment, though it did explain the occasional 'non-me' Rannos.
Q. What is your first computer or video gaming memory? (Answer!)
A. My first memories of playing on a computer was sitting on my baby sitter's son's lap and watching/helping him play Warcraft II. I've been one of Blizzard's most hardcore fans since then until recently when I played through the 'war'-less World of Warcraft. It was a good game to start with that eventually catered too much to the masses.
Q. What sort of players annoy you the most? (Answer!)
A. The braggers, taunters, bad spellers and rushers. Basically I hate poor sportsmanship and poor English. I mean, come on! Word and even google is there to help you spell, USE IT!
Q. What are your thoughts on player-made mods/addons for games? (Answer!)
A. They are the best way to get more bang for your buck. Plus a zombie game lover like myself hasn't had any decent game in forever to sate my appetite with and there are no end to mods to FPS games that add in those oh-so-killable undead
Q. Other than your console or PC, what is the piece of hardware you can't live without? (Answer!)
A. Cable television. If I can't have fun gaming then at least I can be entertained otherwise.
My cellphone was recently added to this list, not for entertainment reasons but because its multi-functionality keeps me from buying a watch, calender, calculator or contact booklet. Basically, if I lose my phone I become a hermit.
Q. Have you ever had a memorable real-life meeting with other gamers? (Answer!)
A. No not really. Almost all my friends and some of my family are gamers. It doesn't really surprise me or make much impression on me when I meet other gamers in real life or otherwise.
Now if I met a famous gamer/developer THAT would make an impression but that kinda goes without saying.
Q. Do your quiz results on GamerDNA reflect your personality, and if not, what did it get wrong? (Answer!)
A. Yea, more or less. In FPS's I usually do whatever it takes to help the team succeed, even over personal glory (Support.) I do indeed turtle the hell out of RTS's. I've even stated recently that when I first play a new RTS I try to find the most economic faction/race/power to play because even in supposedly "baseless" games like Dawn of War and Company of Heroes a good economy can do wonders.
Q. Beside GamerDNA, what are your favorite websites? (Answer!)
A. A site I could not live without that I recently found was delicious.com. Since I usually am using a wide variety of computers, having a database of all my bookmarks is endlessly useful. I haven't a clue how I'd find all the sites I like without it.
Q. If you could bring any book, movie or comic to life in a game, which would you choose? (Answer!)
A. Christ this is like asking a parent who their favourite child is! I'd have to say its a three-way tie between Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, with a great many more tied for second and third.
Q. What sort of tools (calculators, builders, spreadsheets, etc.) do you use to plan your characters? (Answer!)
A. What is this "planning" about which you speak?
Q. What is the most overlooked or misunderstood game? (Answer!)
A. Within my circle of friends the most underated game is Sins of a Solar Empire.
In the wide world of game, however, the least appreciated game is probably EVE Online, which is understandable since its learning curve is tremendously difficult.
Q. Do you feel relationships within games are meaningful? (Answer!)
A. Yea, I'm skipping this one for now. They both are and they aren't. I'll go into this more later on.
Q. How many hours a week do you play? (Answer!)
Q. What is a feature you would like added to GamerDNA? (Answer!)
A. I'll tell ya after I've looked around a bit more. This pseudo-pop up window thing for the DNA panel has to go though. I'd rather have a tab or window than whatever the hell this is.
Q. What do you love or hate about PVP? (Answer!)
A. I love almost anything that isn't griefing in open world pvp
I hate griefing, even when I had the chance to do it, it felt wrong.
Q. What do your characters and avatars usually look like? (Answer!)
A. Varies depending upon the character. I suppose they usually look 'normal' for their race since I have a bizarre hatred of piercings, most jewelry and tattoos.
Q. What are the specs on your gaming rig? (Answer!)
A. Couldn't tell you the exacts, but it was good enough to run Crysis and have it look pretty too.
Q. Why do you join guilds or clans? (Answer!)
A. I join any sort of organization for the camaraderie and for someone to chat with while playing a game. If the guild is never on or everyone is an egomaniac I won't stay long. Even if its the leetest guild in the world.
Q. What music do you like to play games to? (Answer!)
A. usually the original soundtrack in the game, unless it isn't that great or nonexistant. I usually like music that puts one into awe and wonder or makes one feel overwhelmed with 'epicness'. The theme when you enter Stormwind in WoW is a good example or the music during the cavalry charge at Helms Deep in the Two Towers movie. Epic.
Q. What are your most memorable achievements in a game? (Answer!)
A. I haven't had much time with achievements since they just recently started to migrate from the Xbox. I'd say the six axe kills in one life in tf2 as pyro was pretty awesome because I was sure I'd die after the second kill.
Q. How do you feel about selling virtual items for real money? (Do NOT advertise RMT services!) (Answer!)
A. Its abominable and only helps to serve an industry that slowly erodes the quality of games.
Q. Are you interested in working within the game industry? (Answer!)
A. Dear god yes! Now if only there was a job for someone without any technical or PR skills that didn't involve all the atrocious alpha/beta testing. I hear it is a lot more difficult than it sounds.
Q. What question would you add to the Attitudes system? (Answer!)
A. I dunno, but I'd probably move this one to the end so I get the chance to SEE them all first. I'm only about a third the way through bud.
Q. If you made your own game, what would it be like? (Answer!)
A. An epic mmo set in a World in Conflict-esque setting with a fully explorable and destructable United States, Russia and Europe. A mix between an mmo and a FPS. The combat would be like an FPS and but with far more people like an mmo. Awesome.
Q. What are your favorite tabletop (RPG, board, miniatures, etc.) games? (Answer!)
A. Risk, Warhammer (never played, but it looks cool,) and Dungeons and Dragons.
Q. How do you feel about playing characters of the opposite sex? (Answer!)
A. Little more than an interesting change of view, so long as you do no more than play the role rather than actively attempt to deceive other players into thinking you ARE the opposite sex.
Q. What experience do you have beta-testing games? (Answer!)
A. Not a lot and the experience I have had has not been great. I'd rather play a finished product than get to play a game early. Though I'd love to 'beta' test Left 4 Dead since that game has been practically finished for the PC for over a year. RELEASE IT ALREADY VALVE!!!
Q. In real life, are you male or female? (Answer!)
Q. When do you play, including timezone? (Answer!)
A. Usually in the afternoon in the Central Timezone of the USA
Q. Have you ever had a romantic encounter with someone you met in a game? (Answer!)
A. Define "romantic encounter" and no I haven't had any such encounters at all with or without games.
Q. When you are not playing games, what do you do for fun? (Answer!)
A. Surf the web, read, socialize with friends, that kinda crap.
Q. If you could cancel any online game, which would it be? (Answer!)
A. I wouldn't wish cancellation on any games at all. Even vile Wii games that deserve nothing short of a slow and painful demise.
A. Yes, but I prefer to just listen
Q. If you could meet any game developer, who would it be? (Answer!)
A. Paul Barnett, because people say that he isn't as crazy as he is on camera. I'd like to meet a non-crazy Paul Barnett.
